Electrical connection clip



March 24, 1925.

H. G. THOMPSON- ELECTRICAL CONNECTION CLIP Fliled June 15, 1925 M f flzmwvm Patented Mar. 24, 1925. a

1,531,049 PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY THODSON', 01 MD, OHIO, A SBIGHOB '10 momma. GOI- rm, OI 01.1mm, OHIO, A. PARTNERSHIP OONSISTING 01' WK 8,

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a lication am June 1:, 1m. 8erial Io. 045,041

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY G.'THO1 ILPBON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga and 6 State of 6 and useful Improvement in Electrical Qonnection Clips, of which the following is a full clear, and exact description. 7

This invention relates to electrical con- I 1 nection clips, and has'for its chief object toprovide a cli which can be produced inexpensively, an which is at the same time efiicient. In other words, it is the aim of the invention to provide a cli which can be utilized to form a good e ectrical connection between a pair of conductors, and which can be produced in quantities at low The construction which I have provided,

f 80 is admirably adapted for small clips which have a very extensive field of use in radio apparatus, although, of course, the clip can be used for other purposes and can be made in large sizes as well as small.

The invention may be briefl as consistin in certain novel etails of construction w 'ch will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended c aims.

00 In the accompanying sheet of drawings wherein I have shown the preferred form of the invention, and also a slight modifier tion which may be used, if desired, Fig. 1 is an e view of a clip formed in accord:

as ance wi my invention;- Fig. 2 is a similar view of one of the two counterpart stampings used in forming the clip;vFig. 3 is a face or side view of the same; Fig. 4 is a face or side view of the clip loo 1 toward so the right of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an view forming stampings, before they "arefunite or secured together at their rear ends; Fig.6 shows the jaw end of the clip: fragmentary face view Fig 7 is an enlarged as showing the hollow rivet or' eyelet by which therear ends of the stamp or body portions of theclip are fastene together and showing m indentation which is formed in one end of the eyelet for'a purpose to be It described; Fig. 8 is'a sectional view on the same scale as in Fig. 7, the section bein taken substantially along the line 8-8 0 Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of bio, have invented a certain new showing a slight I or other suitable resilient material, this clip being of the type wherein the jaws are normally. held together or closed by the inherent resiliency of the material.

The two stampings A, are provided at their rear ends withflat engaging portions a which are held together in the manner hereinafter (itlelscribed. Forvlvgrdlydlof these portions a e stam ve 'ver arms a, and at the gi r fird ends of these arms are crossed ortions a, the crossed portions being in e form of relatively narrow necks which. are reduced in width to substantially one-half the width of the stampingl by notching out the stamp as clear y own in Fig. 3. Forwardl dl the crossed portions or necks a, are t e jaws orjaw portions 0:, which at their free. ends are bent inwardly toward each other, and

- are preferably serrated as shown at a, in summarized Fig. 6. As previously stated, it is a feature of the clip that the two stampings are exact counterparts, and in order that the teeth of one aart may fit into the notches between the tee 7 of-the other as shown at Fig. 6, it is nry that the teeth of one be aterally offset from the V-shaped notches of the other a distance equal to one-half the width of a tooth when one stam ing is placed over the other for assembling, and this is accomplished by providing at one end of the jaw or series of serrations, a half tooth, or preferably a space a, of a width equal to one-half the width of a tooth at its base. This is clearly The twov stagflingsar'e held in ali cut or in proper tionship by fastening togther the rear portions a, and in order at the portions of the stam ings forwardly of the rear portions 0/ ma under tension so that the free ends of t e' jaws will-have a normal tendency to close and to be held closed or inengagement under a certain degree of pressure, the rear portions a of the two assembled stampings are not initially,

parallelbut are formed so as to diverge, or the stampings are otherwise initially shaped so that when the rear portions av are drawn illustrated inFig. 6.

106 together and caused to lie flat against each other for their full length, a considerable spring or tension is placed in the portions of the stampings forwardly of therear portions.

The rear portions a of the stampings are preferably fastened together and held flat against each other by a hollow rivet or eyelet B,the shank of which is extended through openings a formed in the portions a. A hollow rivet is preferably utilized for the reason that by threading the inner bore or opening of the rivet it will accommodate the terminal screw C by which the end of a conductor may be electrically connected to the rear end of the clip by clamping it between the head of the screw and the adjacent end of the rivet.

As far as I am aware, I am the first to use a hollow rivet for the double purpose of clamping together two parts such as the two clip stampings, and to form one element of a binding post by threading the wall of the opening in the rivet to accommodate a terminal or binding post screw. However, in addition to this feature, which I believe to be new with me in this art, I have provided certain additional improvements which enable me to utilize the hollow rivet for the two purposes stated, in the most effective manner. For example, it is desirable that the rivet be automatically held from turning when it is threaded. It is desirable also that the rivet effectively hold the two stampings in alignment and prevent their getting out of ali ent by one swinging or turning relative to the other aboutthe center of the rivet as an axis. Both these advantages are attained by interlocking the rivet to the stampings during the upsetting or riveting process when the end of the shank of the rivet is upset after extending the shank through the openings a". To accomplish this, the openings a in the end portions a of the stampings are provided with short lateral extensions or notches a best shown in Fig. 3, and durin the riveting or upsetting process the rivet 1s indented as shown at b so as to drive part of the metal of the rivet, which is generally formed of copper, into the extensions a as shown at b in the enlarged sectional View of Fig. 8. This forms the equivalent of a key, which not only prevents the rivet turning when it is being tapped, but prevents the stampings turning relatively to each other.

I find that very effective results are obtained by indenting the rivet .at one end only, but if desired, the metal can be indented in both ends so as to drive the metal in from both ends of the rivet. Furthermore, while I prefer to drive the metal into the notches a. of both stampings, I do not wish to be so limited, for obviously the rivet is held from turning if the metal is driven into one of the notches only, and this may be found suflicient also to prevent, or at least minimize liability of the stampings moving out of alignment.

The clips formed as above described, have proven by use to be ver efiicient and to possess great utility in quickly making electrical connections. I have, however, in Fig. 9, shown a slight modification. In this instance the ortions of the stampings which are fastener together by the hollow rivet B, and here designated a", are made somewhat longer than the corresponding portions a of the construction first described, and in this instance, these portions 21 are at their rear ends bowed outwardly as shown at a so that the two portions a will when placed together form a substantially cylindrical passageway for the end of the conductor, and the inner end of one bowed portion a is provided with an opening a, so that the uninsulated portion of the conductor can be extended out from this passageway and clamped between the screw C and rivet B. If the two stampings are to be counterpart as in the first instance, the opening a will be formed in both stampings, though, of course, only one openin will be utilized by the passage of the con uctor therethrough. I do not consider it essential to provide the feature just described, and consisting of the bowed portions a with the opening or openings a, but it may be usedif desired.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An electrical connection clip composed of two stampings having crossed portions with jaws at the forward ends thereof and having rear portions held'faceto face under stress so as to impose initial tension in the jaws, a short hollow rivet passing through, and fastening together said rear portions of the stampings and having its shouldered ends engaging the faces of the rear portions so as to effectively hold them together and electrically connect them, and a terminal screw engaging the inner passageway or bore of said rivet.

2. An electrical connection clip composed of two members connected together at their rear ends and having jaws at their forward ends, a fastening member extending through the rear ends of said members and interlocked therewith to prevent the turning thereof and a terminal screw engaging said fastening member.

3. An electrical connection clip composed of two members having rear portions fastened together and jaws at their forward portions, a hollow rivet extending through the rear portions of said members to fasten them together and interlocked with one of said members and a terminal having threaded'engagement with said rivet.

4. In an electrical connection clip, a pair of clip members having forward portions in the form of jaws, and rear portions with openings, one of which has a lateral extension, a fastening member passing through the openings and engaging in said extension and a terminal screw having threaded engagement with said fastening member.

5. An electrical connection clip composed of two members having rear ortions fastened together and jaws at the orward porti ns thereof, a rivet passing through said rear portions to fasten the members together and a terminal screw having threaded engagement with said rivet, the opening formed in one of said members to receive the rivet having an extension, and a portion at one end of the rivet being driven into the same to prevent .relative rotation between the rivet and the clip members.

6. An electrical connection clip composed of a .pair of stampings having crossed ortions and having rear portions fastened together, a hollow rivet for fastening said members together, the bore or central pasageway of the rivet being threaded to receive a terminal screw, a portion of the rivet and one of said stampingsbeing interlocked to prevent relative rotation thereof.

7. An electrical connection clip composed of a pair of stampings having jaws at their forward portions and having rear portions fastened together, a terminal screw carried by the clip, said rear portions being shaped to form between them a passageway for a conductor, which passageway extends from the rear end of the clip toward the screw. 1

8. An electrical connection clip composed of a pair of stampings having jaws at the forward portions thereof and having rear portions fastened together, and a binding screw, the rear portions being oppositely bowed to form a passageway for a conductor, one of said stampings having an opening through which the conductor may be extended to the binding screw.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

HENRY G. THOMPSON. 

